Deberias Haberme Contado
by nikki.ntm
Summary: Ash has entered the Hoenn League Tournament. Misty's back and he has the support of his friends, nothing should be in his way to reach his goal. But life's never perfect, during the tournament his world starts to fall apart.
1. Chapter 1

Shoo!!!  
  
I should be finishing "What Magic Can Do To You" but there's nothing to worry about, the next chapter will be up soon. =)  
  
This story however, is kinda old (for me), I wrote it sometime last year. . . around Christmas, I think. The reason to why Masato isn't in this story is because when I wrote it, he hadn't showed up yet.  
  
This ficcy has a bit of everything. This chapter should be kinda funny and let's just say that many things will happen. Anyway, just read it and (I know, I say the same all the time) review!  
  
Ages:  
  
Ash - 17  
  
Misty - 17  
  
Tracey - 20  
  
Brock - 22  
  
May - 16  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
They were now finally at the Hoenn Stadium at the top of a mountain at Ever Grande City. Ash, Pikachu, Brock and May had been sitting outside the Pokémon Center. Well, at least Brock and May were sitting down. . . Ash was jumping around and yelling out his excitement. Brock had tried to tell him to calm down several times now, but now he started to wonder why he even bothered. After that a 20th group had passed by them and looked weirdly at Ash, Brock said,  
  
"Ash, could you please calm down. . . you won't get into the league without a psychologist's permission if you don't stop jumping around like you had put your backside on fire."  
  
"Oh well, I think that sitting out in the sunshine has affected someone in a bad way." Ash said. The years hadn't changed Ash that much, maybe he was aware of more stuff then he was before, but now it was time to compete in his fourth league tournament! And he was determinated to show the world what he was made of.  
  
"Pikachu, pikapi!" Pikachu said happily and ran up to Ash's shoulder.  
  
"Seems like Pikachu is just as happy as Ash." May commented.  
  
Ash had celebrated his 17th birthday last week. He didn't throw any big party, he had spent most of the day at the phone trying to make his mom stop crying about that he was a growing man and that he was becoming an adult and all that stuff.  
  
"Shouldn't we go into the Pokémon Center?" May asked.  
  
"As fast as Ash had calmed down so he doesn't hurt anyone by poking an eye out or something." Brock said.  
  
"Hey, I'm cool. Let's go." Ash said and entered the Pokémon Center.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Later. . .  
  
"C'mon, it ain't that hot outside!" Ash complained.  
  
"For the last time no, we can go later." Brock said.  
  
"Eh, yeah, when all the other trainers have been there and I'll be the last one to enter the stadium!" Ash said.  
  
"I can go with you." May said and went up from her seat.  
  
"Thank you!" Ash said. They were just about to start to walk towards the exit when,  
  
"Ash?" a female voice said. Ash turned around, "huh?" , the next thing he knew was that someone embraced him. It took him a little while to figure out who it was.  
  
"Please tell me that you do recognize me, or else I guess I'll have to jump from a bridge or something." The girl said.  
  
"Oh. . .my god. . . " he started to feel that he had a hard time breathing, "Um. . . I. . . " that was the last thing he remembered before everything turned black.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
When he woke up, he was lying down on something that resembled a hospital bed but it was somewhat smaller since it was built for Pokémon.  
  
"So you finally decided to wake up, huh?. . . I knew I shouldn't have showed up like that." Ash went up from the bed he was lying on and embraced her back. After that they broke the embrace, they sat down on the chairs,  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked surprised.  
  
"I heard that the league tournament began tomorrow so I figured you'd be here. And my sisters world tour ended perfectly in time."  
  
"I have really, really missed you." Ash said before he had a chance to stop himself from saying it.  
  
"I've missed you too."  
  
They both blushed and didn't say anything for a while..  
  
"Um, where's Pikachu, Brock and May?" he asked.  
  
"They are outside waiting. Who's that girl?"  
  
"Um, that's May, she joined us soon after you left." Ash said.  
  
"How soon after that I left?"  
  
". . . hmm. . . ..a day or so."  
  
"How old is she?"  
  
"Gee, you're asking more questions than my mom did." Ash said smiling.  
  
"Well, I'm curious!"  
  
"Then why didn't you ask May yourself?"  
  
"Because I went with you in here! So I didn't have time to present myself or ask her all these questions."  
  
". . . she's 16." Ash replied.  
  
"Ooh. . . a younger girl." She said teasingly.  
  
"Misty, knock it off." Ash said.  
  
"You understood what I meant by that?" Misty asked surprised, "What kind of stuff have you and Brock been talking about?"  
  
"Are you gonna be in the tournament?" Ash asked, pretending that he hadn't heard that last question.  
  
"Nope, I just came down here to cheer for you." Misty said, "Are you feeling any better?"  
  
"Are you kidding? I'm on my way to compete in my fourth tournament and your're back!" Ash said over thrilled, "C'mon, let's go!" he said, grabbed her hand and went out of the room.  
  
"Wait!" Misty said.  
  
"What is it?" Ash asked and turned around to face her.  
  
"You're taller than me!" she said and stood straight.  
  
"Apparently." Ash said. She went closer to him and put her hand on her head and moved it towards Ash. It came right under his nose.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked and looked weirdly at her.  
  
"You are half a head taller than me!. . . " she said. He didn't know why, but suddenly he started to blush, "It's nothing to be embarressed over." She said and gave him a friendly push.  
  
"I might have grown, but you're suntanned." He said.  
  
"Yeah, I know. . . I was in Valencia Island for two weeks, I went straight from Valencia Island to Ever Grande City" Misty replied  
  
"Oh really?. . . what did you do there?" Ash asked.  
  
"Nothing important." Misty said and shrugged. They were walking down a hall,  
  
"Did you go with your sisters?"  
  
"Nope, I was there with Tracey." Misty said easily.  
  
"With Tracey?!" Ash blurted out quite shocked.  
  
"Yes, Tracey. Y'know, Tracey the Pokémon Watcher that works with Prof. Oak." Misty said.  
  
"Yes, I know." Ash said. They had just arrived to the entrance, Pikachu, Brock and May came towards Ash,  
  
"Ash, are you okey?" May asked worried.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just got a little surprised that's all."  
  
"Attention all Pokémon trainers! The opening cermony at the stadium will start in five minutes, please, all trainers that are going to compete get to the fourth entrance of the Ever Grande Stadium now. I repeat, the fourth entrance of the Ever Grande Stadium, now." Said a man with a french accent through the speakers.  
  
"I guess I gotta go now." Ash said.  
  
"I'll go with you to make sure you don't get lost on your way to the fourth entrance." Misty said.  
  
"C'mon, Pikachu. Let's go. I'll see you guys later." Ash said to Brock and May. Pikachu ran up to Ash's shoulder as Ash and Misty started to walk out of the Pokémon Center and towards Ever Grande Stadium.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Five minutes later..  
  
"Welcome to the Hoenn League Tournament! The Pokémon trainers look ready to battle and this year we have alot to expect. Different champions from other regions will be competing in this tournament, which will put some pressure on the rookies. The battleing will begin tomorrow in different stadiums. . . "  
  
All the trainers came out from different entraces to finally gather in the middle of the stadium. The crowd was wild and Ash felt how butterflies flew in his stomach, his fourth league competition and he was just as nervous as when he competed at the Indigo Plateau, but the difference was that he was more prepared now than he was then. He had trained hard and now he was standing here. He sighed deeply and stared at the crowd that was infront of him.  
  
She looked admiringly at him, he had faught so hard to come to where he was now. At the beginning he had to try to ignore all those who didn't believe in him, he had to ignore their comments about that he didn't have a chance to become a Pokémon Master. Misty sighed and looked dreamly out at the stadium, she looked after Ash but it was almost impossible to find him. When she finally found him, she heard that someone was talking to her.  
  
". . . we might as well throw you from your seat down to the seats downstairs." Brock said.  
  
"Sorry. . . I was just thinking. . ." she said, "What did you say?"  
  
"I asked what you have been up to lately." Brock repeated.  
  
"Nothing, really. . . I've been taking care of the gym, I won sometimes and lost the other times. I've been at Valencia Island two weeks. . . ." she began.  
  
"Valencia Island? That explains your slight suntan." Brock said.  
  
"Well, it's actually fake. . . it's just a sun screen, I can't get suntanned, I'll just turn red then." She said.  
  
"Did you have a good time?" Brock asked.  
  
"Yeah, it was quite fun." Misty replied.  
  
They got interrupted as the crowd went wilder and they saw "the wave" spread from the other side of the stadium.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
An hour later, the opening cermony at the stadium ended but continued outside. The streets were filled with people that were buying souvenirs, eating in different restaurants, looking around and having a blast. Ash was out, walking down the streets with Pikachu. It was pretty late, so it was kinda surprising that there was so many people outside. He sat down by a bench and Pikachu jumped up to his lap. He started to scratch behind her ears and looked out at the mass of people. A couple of yards from there, there was two persons watching him.  
  
"Why did you drag me out if you were just going to follow him?" a young man asked tiredly.  
  
"Stop whining. . . you're here as moral support." The girl explained.  
  
"How hard can it be?. . . just walk up to him and ask him if he wants to go out with you!" he said somewhat annoyed.  
  
"It's not that simple, Tracey." The girl said.  
  
"It's simple. . . you're the one who makes it complicated!" Tracey said.  
  
"If it's so easy, you walk up to him and ask him out." The girl said.  
  
"What are you nuts?!. . . I can't ask him out! I happen to be hetrosexual." Tracey burst out.  
  
"Can't you yell just a little bit louder!. . . what should I do?"  
  
"Walk up to him and talk to him, I mean, you're already out, so half the job is basically done. Misty, what are you afraid of?" Tracey asked.  
  
"Gee, Tracey. . . I dunno, what if he tries to bite me. . . what do you think I'm afraid of?!" Misty asked sarcasticly.  
  
"I don't think he would reject you." Tracey said.  
  
"You're only saying that so you can go back to the Pokémon Center." Misty said.  
  
" You don't need to start the conversation with "Ash, I love you, I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, please go out with me!'" Tracey said, "Just ask him if he's hungry and want to go and eat something." Tracey added.  
  
"Ask him if he's hungry?. . . then he'll probably think that I'm high or something!! I've known him for about seven years!! I can't ask him if he's hungry!" Misty complained.  
  
"Then write me a list about things you can ask him about and then we'll talk." Tracey said with a sigh.  
  
"No, wait. . . I'll ask him. . . now." Misty said.  
  
"Great, I'll wait here." Tracey said. Misty started to walk slowly from behind the huge tree they had been hiding. She walked closer and closer and before she knew it, she was at the bench where Ash was sitting with Pikachu.  
  
"Hi, Ash!" she greeted. Ash almost flew out form the bench.  
  
"Misty?. . . You scared me." He said.  
  
"Sorry. . . " she said and sat next to him, "What are you doing out here so late?"  
  
"I was just taking a walk with Pikachu." Ash said.  
  
"Your first battle's in two more days, right?" she asked.  
  
"Yup, in two more days, in the third stadium, twelwe o'clock." Ash replied, smiling.  
  
Misty looked back at the tree and saw that Tracey was giving thumbs up. "Um. . .I was going to get something to eat. . .do you wanna join me?" Misty asked.  
  
"Yeah, sure. . . I haven't eat since. . . dinner!" Ash said and stood up. Misty smiled and went up too. Pikachu ran up to Ash's shoulder and all three started to walk into the crowd and Tracey went happily back to the Pokémon Center.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"We can go into this one." Ash suggested and looked at another fast food restaurant, Misty was losing her temper. That was the fifth fast food restaurant he had suggested and the only difference was that the fast food restaurants were on different places.  
  
"Ash, that's a fast food restaurant." Misty said.  
  
"I know." Ash said, "What's wrong with that?"  
  
"I do not wanna eat fast food, can't we eat at that restaurant?" Misty said and didn't bother to hear Ash's reply. She went to another restaurant that was more elagant and it reminded alot of the restaurants in The Water Capital, Alto Mare.  
  
"Here?!" Ash asked as he saw the restaurant Misty wanted to eat in, "Misty, these kinda restaurants are not good. When we ate in one of these restaurants back in that Water city, I got mushrooms in my soup." Ash reminded her.  
  
"What had you expected to find in a Soupe De La Mer?!" Misty asked annoyed.  
  
"Hey, don't cuss at me in another language!" Ash said.  
  
"Ash, that's not. . . " she sighed frustrated, "You know what, just forget about it. I'm gonna eat here!" Misty said and continued into the restaurant. Ash stood still for a moment, with Pikachu giggling on his shoulder,  
  
"What did that mean anyway?" he asked as he ran after her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Well, how will their date develop? How will Ash do in his first battle? And what will happen before that??  
  
I swear that you might drop dead when we come to that chapter *o*  
  
Some of you probably thinks that this chapter didn't involve anything of what I wrote in the summary. . . but just wait and see. Oh, rating might go up for later chapters.  
  
That's all for now, bye bye!! 


	2. Chapter 2

Hellu!  
  
It's very late and I don't have much to say since I'm kinda tired and when I'm tired I can't think properly =P.  
  
Well, here's chapter 2!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Later.  
  
"Ash, would you please let it go?! I didn't cuss at you in another language!" Misty said, very annoyed.  
  
"If you didn't cuss, why don't you tell me what it meant?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, dammit! It means "Ocean soup"." Misty said.  
  
"You mean, I payed 20 dollars for a darn soup bowl filled with salt water and desgusting red things?!" Ash burst out.  
  
"It was over 3 years ago, Ash!" Misty said raising her voice.  
  
"Excuse me." A waitor, who looked extremly familiar said.  
  
"What?!" both yelled and made Pikachu run underneath the table.  
  
"Could I take your order?" the waitor asked and looked around, it seemed that he was looking for something. But both Ash and Misty were too annoyed to notice that.  
  
"We haven't even got the menues yet." Misty said.  
  
"Oh, well, here you are." The waitor said, looked around once again and disappeared. Ash opened that meny and sighed deeply, "Why do they name the food in other languages?" he asked frustrated.  
  
"'cause maybe they think that the customers know something about what kind of food they serve here, and before you start complaining, mr. Pokémon Master, right under the food's name, it says what the meal contains." Misty said.  
  
"Yeah, very easy to read this when it's all written in russian." Ash said.  
  
"My god, you're unbelieveable. . . Ash, you're keeping the menu upsidedown." Misty said and turned his meny so he could read it..  
  
"Oh.." he said and blushed. Suddenly, the waitor turns up from nowhere,  
  
"Can I take your order?" he asked with his dark voice, both Ash and Misty were looking down at their menues so they didn't notice that he, once again, was looking for something or someone.  
  
"Are you competing in the league?" the waitor asked.  
  
"Me?" Ash asked.  
  
"Yes." The waitor replied shortly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm competing in the league." Ash said proudly.  
  
"You don't happen to bring your Pokémon?" the waitor asked.  
  
"No, I didn't bring them." Ash said.  
  
"Why are you wondering?" Misty asked.  
  
"Well. . . um. . . because, Pokémon are not allowed in the restaurant." The waitor finally said. He went away fastly from their table. Ash was just about to get up, when Misty stopped him.  
  
"Where are you going?" she asked.  
  
"I have Pikachu with me, I can't stay here." Ash said.  
  
"Yes, you can! Didn't you see how he hesitated when I asked. Sit down!" she ordered. Ash sat down, and Pikachu was having fun with his shoes. She was untieing them and after that she tried to pull out the twines out of their place.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
After the meal. . .  
  
Misty and Pikachu went out while Ash tripped out of the restaurant, since Pikachu had tied his two shoes together and Ash hadn't notice. Misty started to laugh when she saw that Ash grabbed a tablecloth making a plate with alot of spagetti fly onto a poor old lady as Ash fell onto the floor, cursing. Three waitors had run to the old lady to help her get the plate and all of the spagetti away, making it even worse. Ash tried to stand up and when he finally did, he turned around, accidently pushing a waitor who was balancing a tray with three big glasses on it. The waitor tried to keep the glasses on the tray but failed and spilled all the liquid on a bald man.  
  
"I'm so sorry!" the waitor apologized, picking up the glasses and glared angerly at Ash who still couldn't stand still. Misty tried to stop laughing and went into the restaurant with Pikachu on her shoulder.  
  
"Ash, let's get out before everyone in here tries to kill you." Misty said laughing.  
  
"What do you think I've been trying to do?!" he asked as he bent down and untied his shoes. Misty dragged him outta of the restaurant as he said sorry to all the people who was starring at him, which was everyone.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Somewhere in Ever Grande City. . .  
  
"Where has he gone to now?" Brock mumled to himself. Brock and May had been walking around, searching for Ash.  
  
"Torchic, can't you find them?" May asked her fire Pokémon.  
  
"Torchic!" Torchic said and looked around. She started to run and Brock and May went after her. She stopped by a Pokémon Center and started to jump.  
  
"What is it, Torchic?" May asked.  
  
"Torchiic!" Torchic said and pointed at a little yellow thing. Brock bend down and picked it up.  
  
"Could be from Pikachu's fur," he said and looked at it, "Or from something else." He looked around and saw that Tracey was walking into the Pokémon Center they were standing next to.  
  
"Hey! Look!" Brock said.  
  
"What?" May asked and looked around.  
  
"Tracey went just into that Pokémon Center!" Brock said, "C'mon, let's go!" he added and started to walk rapidly towards the Pokémon Center.  
  
"Who?" May asked confused.  
  
They went into the Pokémon Center, seeing that Tracey went into the cafeteria, so they followed him. Tracey sat down by a table with a cup of coffee and yawned.  
  
"Hey, Tracey!" Brock greeted and sat down infront of him along with May. "Remember me?." Brock asked.  
  
"Hey, Brock!. . .what are you doing out at this time of day?" he asked.  
  
"We're looking for Ash." Brock said.  
  
"I'm May." May said when she saw Tracey's questioning gaze.  
  
"I'm Tracey, nice to meet you." He said and shook her hand. He looked back at Brock, "I don't know where he is now, but Misty went out with him and Pikachu." Tracey said and yawned again.  
  
"Do you happen to know where they were going?" May asked.  
  
"Nope, I just know that they were going to eat. So either they are in a fast food restaurant with a very pissed off Misty or they are in the most elagant restaurant in town where they could hardly afford water." Tracey said, "Or they could be somewhere in between." He added.  
  
"I thought that he had just gone out for a walk." May said.  
  
"Well, please, excuse me, but I'm exhausted. Nice to see you again, Brock. May, guess we'll be seeing eachother again. . . g'night." Tracey said and went up from the table, taking his coffee with him up to his room.  
  
"Good night." Brock and May said before he went from the table.  
  
"Well, we better go back to the cottage." Brock sighed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A little later . . . .  
  
Ash, Misty and Pikachu were walking through the city as a cold, night breeze flew through the city. Misty embraced herself and began to shiver, Ash looked at her and then asked,  
  
"D'you wanna borrow my sweater?"  
  
Misty looked suprised at him, "What?"  
  
"Um. . . d'you wanna borrow my sweater?" he repeated.  
  
"Are you serious?" she asked. Ash started to get nervous, why did she make sucha big deal? "I think so." he said.  
  
"Won't you be cold, then?"  
  
"Naa. . ." he replied.  
  
"Okey." She said smiling. Both stopped walking and Pikachu jumped to Misty's shoulder so Ash could take his sweater off. After he'd done that, he gave it to Misty as Pikachu jumped back to his shoulder and Misty put the sweater on.  
  
"Thanks." She said.  
  
"No prob..um, where are you staying during the tournament?" he asked.  
  
"At the Pokémon center that's somwhere in the middle of this town."  
  
"That far away? I'm in the cottage that's almost closest to the biggest Stadium." Ash said.  
  
"Well, you won't have to worry to get late." Misty teased.  
  
"For your information I haven't arrived late since. . um, sometime last week, I think." Ash said as an attempt to defend himself.  
  
"So, do you know on which field you're gonna battle in?" Misty asked.  
  
"Nope, it's different here. I get to know on which field I'll battle on half hour before I enter the stadium and I won't get to see my opponent until I enter the stadium." Ash explained.  
  
"What Pokémon are you going to use?" Misty asked.  
  
"Well, I will use Pikachu, and I'll call prof. Oak and ask him if he can send me Bayleef and I dunno which my third Pokémon will be.I can't decide. But I do know that I will use Treecko in my second battle along with Pikachu." Ash said.  
  
"Aren't you going to use three Pokémon in every battle before the semi- finals?" Misty asked surprised.  
  
"Not really, first I'll have three battles and one of them, the second one, will be a two-against-two battle. One of the semi-finals will be two- against-two, but the final battle is just a regular one. Except that the winner becomes a champion." Ash said.  
  
"Seems like someone's been studying." Misty said teasingly.  
  
They had reached the Pokémon Center where Misty stayed during the tournament.  
  
"Well, here's where I'm staying." She said. Ash nodded slowly, they both got quiet, wondering who would go first and Pikachu got the feeling that the two humans wouldn't do anything so,  
  
"Pikapi, pikachu pi!" she said.  
  
"Oh, yeah.um, so.g'night, Misty." He said and looked down.  
  
"G'night, Ash." She said. A few seconds later she gave him a quick kiss on his mouth, making him look up rapidly, blushing.  
  
"See you, tomorrow." She said and went into the Pokémon Center, leaving Ash starring at nothing,  
  
"Um, well. . .eh. . yeah." he said as a reply to what she had said. He wasn't moving and Pikachu was getting impatient.  
  
"Pikapi?" she said, no reaction, "Pikapi!" she yelled into his ear, still no reaction.  
  
"Pi.ka.chu!" Pikachu said as a bolt of electricity went through her cheeks and shocked Ash.  
  
"AAAAAH! PIKACHU KNOCK IT OFF!" he yelled as he practically got toasted by Pikachu's thunderbolt, "What was that for?!" he asked as he got up.  
  
"Pikchupi, kachu ka, pika! (You spaced out!)" Pikachu said.  
  
"I did not, I was just thinking!" Ash protested as he began to walk away from the Pokémon Center.  
  
"Chu pika chu pi (like that would explain everything)." Pikachu mumled quietly to herself, giggling.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Misty was walking happily up the stairs to her room. She opened the door carefully, the room she entered was dark, she looked after the switch and it took her a while to find it. When she finally found the switch she entered the little kitchen that was next to the living room, no one there. She entered one of the rooms and saw that Tracey was sleeping peacefully in his bed. She sat at the side of the bed and shook him,  
  
"Tracey!" she said. Tracey mumled something and turned around, "Wake up!"  
  
"Let me sleep!" he said and pushed her from his bed. She fell with a muffled sound down to the floor.  
  
"Dammit Tracey! Wake up! I have something really cool to say!" she said and got back up to side of his bed. He just threw the covers over his head and went back to sleep. Misty got up, back into the kitchen and filled a little can with ice cold water. She went back into Tracey's room and sat on the side of his bed.  
  
"Tracey, if you don't wake up I'm gonna spill water on you." She threatned.  
  
"Whatever." He mumled. A couple of seconds later he flew up from his bed, feeling something really cold running through his face.  
  
"What are you doing?!" he asked as fast as he shook of the shock.  
  
"You'll never guess what happened." Misty said thrilled.  
  
"Surprise me." Tracey said tiredly.  
  
"I went out on a date with Ash!" she said.  
  
"Ugh, you woke me up for that? I know that you went out on a date with him, I went with you, remember?" he threw the wet pillow on the floor and laid back on the pillow that had been underneath the other one.  
  
"Tracey! That's not the main story!" Misty said. Tracey got tiredly up again.  
  
"He let me borrow his sweater.oh, I forgot to give it back to him." Misty said and looked down at Ash's sweater, "I'll give it back to him tomorrow.and I.gave him a little kiss." She said and blushed. Tracey's eyes widened as he sat up, "No way!" he said, "What did Ash do?"  
  
"Well, um.I didn't give him much time to react." Misty said.  
  
"So you guys are finally a couple."  
  
"I dunno.I don't think he knew it was a date." Misty said.  
  
"How on earth did you ask him out then?!"  
  
"Uh.well.I didn't ask him if he wanted to go out on a date.I just asked him if he was hungry." Misty said quietly.  
  
Tracey groaned and threw himself back down onto the bed, "Don't wake me up! I'm drop dead tired!" he said and pushed Misty away from his bed once again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ash, isn't your mom coming?" Brock asked. Ash kept on throwing the little tennis ball he'd found underneath the couch against the wall and replied,  
  
"Think so. . .but she didn't say when, though."  
  
"How many times have you thrown the ball against the wall without dropping it?" May asked and looked at the ball, which was flying back and forth between Ash and the wall.  
  
"I'm up in 308 times now. . .personal record." He said and kept on throwing the ball. Brock chuckled quietly to himself and shook his head.  
  
"Cha." Pikachu sighed and looked at her trainer. It got quiet for a while as everyone in the room got caught up in the little competition Ash had with himself. All of them jumped up a little and Ash almost droped the tennis ball when someone knocked on the door.  
  
"Can anybody get that. . .I'm almost at 400." Ash said, not looking away from the ball. May went to the door and opened it.  
  
"Mrs. Ketchum!. . .prof. Oak. . .hi!" she said. She didn't know how to react at what she saw and she feared over how Ash would react if he got to see what she was seeing now. Brock appeared behind May. He was about to faint right on the spot,  
  
"Eh. . .uh, come on in." He said, fumling for words. Mrs. Ketchum and prof. Oak went in and greeted the two teens. Mrs. Ketchum looked at her son, who was still throwing a ball against the wall. He had his back turned to them,  
  
"Hi, Ash!" she greeted.  
  
"Hey, mom!" Ash greeted back, still not turning around, "Just a sec, five more times and I'll be at 400." Ash said and kept on throwing the ball. A few seconds later he reached 400, so he let the ball roll down onto the couch , turned around to greet his mom and prof. Oak, but got instead, to say the least, a tremendous shock! He gulped, Brock, May and Pikachu looked worriedly at him. It got deadly quiet in the room and Ash hoped that what he saw was wrong, that he had been looking away to long at the ball and was hallucinating now.  
  
"M-mom. . . " he squeezed out.  
  
"Ash, I know that this might come as a shock. I was going to tell you, but I couldn't find the right time." Delia tried to explain as she put her hand gently on her growing belly.  
  
"Who. . . ?" Ash began as he put his hand on his forehead. He could swear that his head would explode any second now. Delia looked at prof. Oak with a warm smile. Ash shook his head slowly, how could so much happen in so little time? A wave of mixed emotions attacked him time after time. He got pale white, "I gotta get outta here." he thought.  
  
He noticed that his mother was looking at him worriedly and was waiting for some kind of reply. He couldn't speak, he was so angry, hurt and in someway he felt betrayed. Ash couldn't stay there, if he did, he would probably throw up, so he ran towards the door and out of the cottage. "Pikapi!" Pikachu said and ran after Ash.  
  
"Ash!" Delia said and was going to go after him too when prof. Oak stopped her.  
  
"He needs time to think, Delia. . ." he said and looked into her now tearfilled eyes.  
  
"It wasn't supposed to turn out like this, Sam." She said, Samuel held her in his embrace, trying to comfort her. Brock and May felt how this very awkward atmosphere started to take over the cottage, what in the world was going on?!'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
You didn't see that one coming, did ya?!  
  
Where's he going??? Will he be able to handle this new situation???  
  
You'll have to wait and see for chapter three!! =P  
  
Byebye! 


	3. Chapter 3

Halooii!!! =)  
  
Here's the third chapter and as always I run out of things to say when I write this A/N =P. The 9th chapter of "What Magic Can Do To You" is still under construction.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ash had been walking around the city, looking down at the ground, not saying anything. What he had seen was just too much for him. He couldn't believe it. He kicked angerly at a stone that came in his way and it landed on the lawn beside him. One thing was for sure, he couldn't go back. Ash felt as he could just beat the crap out of the one that was guilty in his eyes. . . prof. Oak. Mother Nature didn't seem to be happy either, rain clouds were gathering on the dark night sky and it would soon start to rain like there was no tomorrow. Pikachu was walking a couple of steps behind him and she looked worriedly at her best friend. Where was he going? That was something Ash didn't know either.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Tracey! Stop cheating!" Misty burst out to what seemed like the hundreth time that evening.  
  
"I'm not cheating!" Tracey said and pulled a face of innocence.  
  
"You picked up two cards!" Misty said and pointed at the pile of cards on the table.  
  
"I would never." Tracey said. Misty was about to continue insisting on that Tracey had cheated when suddenly, someone knocked on the door.  
  
"Are you waiting any visits?" Misty asked. Tracey shook his head no. Both went up from the couch and went to the door.  
  
"Who is it?" Tracey asked.  
  
"Uh, it's me. . . Ash."  
  
Misty opened the door and saw Ash stand there in the hallway, all wet, with Pikachu on his right shoulder.  
  
"Ash, come in." She said as she let him enter the little living room. Tracey closed the door after him.  
  
"Is it raining that much outside?" Tracey asked as he went to a window to check the weather.  
  
"Yeah." Ash replied shortly. Misty noticed that he seemed sad but yet so cold.  
  
"Has something happened?" she asked worriedly and looked him straight into his chocolate brown eyes. He was about to tell them what happened, but the words got stuck in his throat.  
  
"Um. . . no, not really." He said instead.  
  
"Hey, Ash, if you wanna get your clothes dry, I have the perfect way right here." Tracey said smiling. Misty and Ash turned around and saw Tracey stand next to his Scyther.  
  
"Scyther, use your Sword Dance." Tracey said kindly to his Pokémon. Scyther started to spinn around, making almost everything in the room tip over. After a couple of turns Ash was very dry and the room was in a mess.  
  
"Thanks, Trace'." Ash said and looked down at his clothes when Misty suddenly remembered something. She went into her room and came out again with Ash's sweater.  
  
"You forgot to take this back." Misty said giving it to him. Ash blushed at the memory of the sweater. He looked down, received the sweater and mumbled thanks. Tracey smiled and shook his head. As he returned Scyther into his PokéBall he came to think of why Ash had come to them at this time of day. Ash's mom and prof. Oak had without a doubt told him now.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It was very late and Misty and Tracey had offered Ash to sleep over there. He got to sleep in Misty's bed after much insisting. He was now sleeping deeply while Tracey and Misty were still in the living room, talking.  
  
"What?!" Misty burst out shocked.  
  
"I know, just keep it down." Tracey said quietly.  
  
"For how long have you known this?" Misty asked.  
  
"I got my suspicions for about half a year ago, but I got all this confirmed when the professor told me that Ash's mom was pregnant." Tracey said.  
  
"My god. . . no wonder Ash seemed so down." Misty said.  
  
"They've been planning on telling him for three months now." Tracey said.  
  
"But. . . didn't you say that you suspected something longer than that?" Misty asked confused.  
  
"Yes, I did. That's when everything began, she got pregnant for four months ago but I noticed that something was going on between them for six months ago." Tracey explained.  
  
"I can hardly imagine what Ash must feel now." Misty said worriedly. Tracey nodded slowly in agreement. He tried to hide a big yawn but did not succeed.  
  
"Are you tired?" Misty asked.  
  
"A little maybe." Tracey said yawning again.  
  
"A little? I could see what you ate for lunch." Misty said leaning back on the couch.  
  
"Okey, I'm very tired. Are you going off to bed?" Tracey asked.  
  
"Already there." Misty said.  
  
"You can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep here." Tracey said.  
  
"It's okey. I'll sleep here."  
  
"You can sleep in my bed." Tracey insisted.  
  
"No, I'll sleep here." Misty replied.  
  
"But I wanna sleep here." Tracey said.  
  
"That's nice, but I will sleep here." Misty said determinated.  
  
"but. . . " Tracey began.  
  
"Go and sleep in your bed or I'll mallet you there!" Misty said frustrated.  
  
"Good night, Misty." Tracey said and went rapidly into his room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tracey was lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He sighed deeply. He felt so weird, it felt as he had butterflies in his stomach and as he couldn't stop smiling. He felt this when he came to think of a special someone, a girl. A girl which he shouldn't have this kind of interest for.  
  
Could he really be falling inlove? "God, I hope not." He mumled to himself. They had spent alot of time together the past three months. As friends of course, but during that time he could have begun to like her more than just a friend.  
  
But that's just wrong, he knew that. He knew what Misty felt for Ash and although it wasn't all to easy to be sure about what Ash felt for Misty, he knew that Ash loved her back. That was so frustrating to know, it would be so much easier if they just told eachother what they felt so that he could move on. But they didn't, so Tracey knew that there was still a chance to maybe evolve this crush. It would be hard to fall asleep tonight, but after hours of tossing and turning he was finally able to get some sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ash woke suddenly up, he yawned and rubbed his eyes. He looked around to see if he could find a clock. After a moment's looking he found a clock and saw that the clock was only 5:30. He went out of the room and saw that Misty was lying on the couch with her Psyduck by her side. Ash reached for his cap and put it on, he looked around for Pikachu and saw that she had been lying by his head. He picked her up carefully so as not to wake her up. He put Pikachu on his shoulder and went back out to the living room. He whispered good bye to Misty and went out of the room.  
  
He went out to the Pokémon Center's lobby where it was quite dark and it wasn't all that light out either. Typical northen weather, the sun rised ten o'clock as earliest and setted around six in the evening. While he was walking out, Pikachu began to wake up.  
  
"Chuu. . . " she yawned.  
  
"G'morning, Pikachu." Ash said and pet his little Pokémon on her head.  
  
"(Where are we?)" she asked confused and looked around.  
  
"Um, out?" Ash replied. Pikachu sighed.  
  
"(I know we're out, Pikapi! I can see that, but where are we going?)" she asked.  
  
"I dunno. . . I don't think there are that many stores open at this time of day." Ash said and shrugged. Ash went towards the centrum of the city, not a sound was heard, everyone were probably tired after all the celebrating.  
  
After walking some more he saw that one store was open and it wasn't any store he'd normally go into, but there wasn't much to do so he started to walk towards the little beauty saloon.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ash reached the door knob and as he entered he heard that there we're people arguing.  
  
"Guess it's argue-season." He mumled to himself.  
  
"How can you two expect customers at this time of day!" he heard a male voice say.  
  
"We wanted to be the first one's to open today." Ash heard another male say. The door got finally closed behind him and made a little bell tingle.  
  
"Oh! A customer!" he heard a female voice say exicited. Three figures went out from a room and appeared from behind two red curtains.  
  
"You!" he burst out.  
  
"Oh god." The man said and rubbed his face.  
  
"Do we have some kind of twerp magnet stuck to our behinds or something?!" the cat said annoyed.  
  
"Hey, listen. I'm not in the mood of coming between you and your so called 'evil plans'." Ash said tiredly.  
  
"No?" James said suprised.  
  
"That's just great!" Jesse said sarcasticly, "Now that we don't have a plan, he won't try to blast us off."  
  
"What's the odds?" Meowth said with a sigh. Ash scratched his head,  
  
"Um, what are you guys up to anyways? You didn't show up to screw up the opening cermony yesterday." Ash said.  
  
"Well, what can we say?" Meowth said, "We're out of plans!"  
  
"Is that so?" Ash said as he grinned, "Out of plans? I haven't heard that one for quite a while." He thought.  
  
"Seems like someone has missed our little show." James said somewhat happy.  
  
"Don't flatter yourself. I was just a little surprised, that's all." Ash said. He went towards one of the chairs that was infront of a mirror and sat down.  
  
"What are you doing?" Jesse asked.  
  
"I'm here for a makeover." Ash said and made sure that he was sitting right infront of the mirror.  
  
"What?!" all four burst out, well, Pikachu's 'what' was more like a "ka?!"  
  
"I guess that's one of the things you do in a beauty saloon?" Ash said.  
  
"Yeah. . . but this if for Pokémon!" Meowth said.  
  
"Pretend I'm a Pokémon then. Pretend I'm Pikachu and you gotta piff her up a little bit to make her look better when you show her to your boss." Ash said. Everyone just looked at him in shockment and in surprisement.  
  
"I just wanna make a point here, I know we're the bad guys." James began, "But isn't it just a little bit irresponsible of you to drink at this time of day? You're not even allowed to drink."  
  
"I'm not drunk." Ash said easily, "Just do a makeover." James was just about to say something when Jesse put her hands over his mouth and said,  
  
"Well, we have a customer waiting! Meowth, don't just stand there! Go and get all the stuff!" Jesse ordered.  
  
"Right!" Meowth ran into a room where it scrambled alot, after a while he came back into the main room, balancing a ton of things in his arms.  
  
"James, would ya mind giving me a hand here?!" Meowth yelled. James took half of the things Meowth was carring and put it next to the chair where Ash was sitting while Jesse had already come over a comb.  
  
"First off, we gotta start to comb out your hair." She said and looked at his hair for a couple of seconds, wondering where to begin, "But I think it would be better if we started to put some balsam in it first."  
  
As she said so, Meowth and James went after a moveable sink and a few bottles balsam and shampoo. Pikachu sat in the chair next to Ash, watching amused. She was wondering why her trainer had gotten a sudden desire to get a new look.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Later. . .  
  
"Oh my god. . . " the three Rocket members said.  
  
"I think I'm about to cry." Jesse said.  
  
"Me too, Jesse." James agreed.  
  
"We're just the masters in this." Meowth said proudly, crossing his little arms.  
  
"Can I see?" Ash asked from underneath a towel.  
  
"No!" all three burst out.  
  
"Why not?!" Ash asked, "You haven't done anything bad, have you?! Because if you have I'll make sure Pikachu shock the living h. . . " Ash began but got hushed by all of them.  
  
"Watch your language, twerp! This is a cuss-free zone! So just swallow your big Politoeds and trust us." James said.  
  
"With this new hair do you gotta get a new out fit too." Jesse said as a big smile grew on her face.  
  
All three stood behind his chair and pushed the chair into a dressing room. As fast as the chair was in, Jesse jumped back out like a little school girl as she giggled.  
  
"Aaah. . . I just love myself." She sighed and waited for them to come out again. It might have gone five minutes when they finally came back out. James and Meowth stood by the curtains and said,  
  
"Saloon Master Roquetts, proudly presents our lates master piece." James began.  
  
"Would you just knock it off!" Ash said from the dressing room.  
  
"Why does he have to be sucha partypooper?" Jesse snapped.  
  
"I heard that!"  
  
"Get your ass outta there!" Jesse said unpatiently.  
  
Out came Saloon Master Roquetts latest master piece. Four pairs of eyes dropped down to the floor.  
  
"Pikapi, chu pi kachu ka? (Ash, what have done?)" Pikachu asked and jumped down from the chair she had been sitting on and ran up to Ash's shoulder.  
  
"I haven't done anything, they have." Ash said and looked at Jesse, James and Meowth.  
  
"So, whaddya think?" he asked.  
  
"I'm so proud of myself right now." Jesse said and put her hand over her mouth.  
  
"Ya look neat, I must say." Meowth said, very proud over their creation.  
  
"Are you going to keep it like that?" James asked.  
  
"Yep, I like it." Ash said and looked down at himself, "Well, I gotta go now. Thanks for your help, how much to I owe you?" Ash asked as he picked up his wallet from his other pants.  
  
"Um. . . "  
  
"That's a very good question. . . " Jesse said.  
  
"I think we're talking about 150$." Meowth said calmly. At first, Jesse and James thought that Ash would flip out when he heard the price, but,  
  
"Oh well. . . here ya go." Ash said and gave them 150$. All three looked shocked at him,  
  
"What? You're the fashion masters after all." Ash said, "Thanks again. Nice to meet you without having to blast you off." He said as he started to walk towards the door.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Ash turned around, "We gonna make sure that your friends won't let you go nearby a bottle with anything alcoholy in it." James said.  
  
"I'm still not drunk." Ash said calmly.  
  
"Ya gonna give that other loveboid a call now?" Meowth said teasingly.  
  
"Misty? She's in town." Ash said.  
  
"Then why aren't you with her then!" Jesse asked as she gave him a slap on the back of his head.  
  
"What was that for?!"  
  
"Have ya at least gone out on a date?" Meowth asked.  
  
"Um. . . no." Ash replied.  
  
"Oh yes, they have." James said in a singsong voice.  
  
"What?!" Jesse, Meowth and Ash burst out.  
  
"Don't play dumb! I was that waitor that showed up all the time in that restaurant where you almost killed an old lady with a plate filled with spaghetti." James said.  
  
"I did not do that on purpose!" Ash said.  
  
"So ya have been on a date then!" Meowth said.  
  
"That was not a date!" Ash complained.  
  
"Was any other twerp there?" Jesse asked.  
  
"No." Ash replied.  
  
"It was a date." Jesse said.  
  
"How do you know?" Ash asked and crossed his arms as the door got closed.  
  
"You two were in a restaurant that she had picked and it was only you and her." Jesse explained.  
  
"Na-aa. . .Pikachu was there too." Ash said.  
  
"That doesn't count, I mean there wasn't any other human with you two." Jesse said.  
  
"Was there a kiss when you had to go back to her place?" James asked. Ash blushed at the question.  
  
"No doubt, a date." All three said. Pikachu giggled from where she was seated.  
  
"Thanks for the info." Ash said sarcasticly, "I really gotta go now. Bye and until next time."  
  
"You betcha!" all three said as Ash went out of the beauty saloon, very satisfied with his new look.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wellish, mr. Tracey thinks that he has been hit by Cupid's arrows and is now flying on small pink clouds. Hihi, he's so cute.  
  
And what is Ash up to now? I mean, getting a makeover done by Team Rocket? Hmm. . . wonder what he looks like.  
  
If you wanna know, let me know that you wanna know so I post the next chapter soon and let you know. Are you with me? =P  
  
///////  
  
Nikki  
  
P:S Review!! D:S 


	4. Chapter 4

Aloii!!!  
  
I'm not dead n_n, I've been buried in tons of homework and I have a tiny writer's block. But I'll get over it ; -). . . I hope.  
  
"Deberias haberme contado" means "You should've told me". . . I cracked my head trying to figure something out. I was going to call this story "You should've told me" but then I said it in spanish and I liked it =)  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Here's chapter 4  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Later that day. . .  
  
Delia, Samuel, Brock and May were standing outside the stadium Ash was supposed to battle in.  
  
"Where could he be?" Delia said worriedly and looked around. She hadn't been able to calm herself down ever since Ash stormed out of the cottage.  
  
"Mrs. . . erm, miss. Ketchum, I'm sure that he'll show up any second." May said.  
  
"Ash will surely come with Misty and Tracey." Brock added.  
  
Just a few minutes later, May saw Misty and Tracey walking towards the crowd they were standing in.  
  
"There they are!" she said. Brock looked where May was looking, he saw Misty and Tracey but no Ash was visible.  
  
"I can't see Ash." Brock said. Tracey noticed them and started to walk towards them with Misty right behind him.  
  
"Hey!" he greeted.  
  
"Hi!" they greeted back.  
  
"Do you happen to know where Ash is?" Delia asked.  
  
"Nope. . . he came to us yesterday but he was gone this morning. I guess that he'll show up in the last second." Misty said, "Oh! God. . .you're pregnant!" Misty burst out as she saw Delia's growing belly.  
  
"Congratulations!" she said happily as she embraced Delia carefully.  
  
"Welcome to the Hoenn League tournament! The main entrance will be open in one minut." A voice announced. People began to form a long line as they were let in.  
  
Misty was starting to worry, where had Ash gone? She looked towards the trainer's entrance and to her big surprise there was a medium large crowd, with mostly women in her age and a little older and alot of a smaller kids.  
  
"Misty?. . . What are you looking at?" Tracey asked.  
  
"Over there." Misty said and nodded towards the trainer's entrance. Tracey looked over where Misty had pointed. He saw the crowd, but he didn't get the big idea. The rest of them had also turned around to see what was going on.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked.  
  
"Um. . . wait here, I'll be right back." She said and went towards the crowd. May was not going to just stand there so she went after Misty and followed her to the crowd.  
  
Misty was now getting closer to the crowd and saw that the person in the spotlight was a man, he was wearing black jeans, a white T-shirt with a black, somewhat thin, unbuttoned shirt over the T-shirt, which looked very good on him.  
  
Misty sighed in relief, it couldn't be Ash, first off, the man was wearing black clothes and secondly his hair was broshed.  
  
But Misty decided to get a closer look anyway, that man could be Ash's opponent. He could be showing off his Pokémon and it would help Ash alot to know which Pokémon his opponent would use against him.  
  
She heard a cute little "Pika" sound, "Does he have a Pikachu?" she asked quietly to herself. Could it be the person she thought it was?  
  
He was a he, he was in the tournament, he was obviously known so that meant that he had been in league tournaments before and he had a Pikachu.  
  
"What if that's Richie?" she thought. That would mean that Ash's first battle would be really tough. She managed to squeeze herself through the crowd to get a decent look at the man who was drawing so much attention to himself.  
  
Her jaw hit the ground, just a couple of meters from her, stood a new Ash Ketchum. He looked alot different, it was hard to explain, it wasn't only his new look that changed him, his ego seemed to have dug itself up from wherever Ash had managed to hide it for these past years.  
  
May had seen him too, and she was to say the least, stunned. She could hardly recognize him. Pikachu, who had been sitting by Ash's feets , ran up to his left shoulder as he excused himself and went into the stadium, without noticing Misty's nor May's stunned faces.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Steelix is unable to battle!" the referee said and raised the red flag.  
  
"The green trainer has only one Pokémon left, while the red trainer has two! What will be his next choise?. . .An Arcanine! This will be a hot battle, foks! Charizard vs. Arcanine! Charizard looks a little tired, but it has given us alot of surprises. What could the red trainer have up his sleeve?" the annoucer said to the wild crowd.  
  
"Arcanine, use Earthquake!" the green trainer ordered his Pokémon. Arcanine got ready to do an earthquake, when Ash yelled,  
  
"Charizard, fly!" Charizard flew up high and stayed there. Arcanine's attack missed. Charizard flew down towards Arcanine and gave it sucha push that it flew against the green trainer's podium.  
  
"Arcanine!"  
  
"Seismic Toss." Ash said calmly. Charizard took Arcanine, flew up high then threw it down back to the field. When Arcanine hit the ground, a big cloud of sand and dust was created, which made it impossible to see in which conditions Arcanine was in.  
  
The cloud started to lighten up and the referee raised the red flag as he said,  
  
"Arcanine has been defeated, the match goes to the red trainer Ash Ketchum!"  
  
"Great job, Charizard." Ash said proudly as he took out Charizard's pokéball, "Return." Ash went down from the podium as the cheers from the crowd got louder. He stopped walking when Pikachu ran up to his shoulder.  
  
"Pikachu, pika? (Aren't we going to go with the others?)" she asked.  
  
"Dunno. . . that depends, Pikachu." Ash replied as he continued walking out of the stadium. That had been his first battle in this tournament and he had won with ease and he hadn't needed the help of Brock, Tracey nor Misty. Ash had passed by the locker rooms and was now walking towards the exit. The others would probably stay in the stadium to watch the rest of the matches that were being held today.  
  
He did honestly hope that they wouldn't come, because if they did, his mom would probably be with them and he didn't want to see her.  
  
Ash walked slowly away from the stadium, thinking of what had happened yesterday. He was so into his thoughts that he didn't hear the girl who was calling his name.  
  
"Ash!" she yelled and made him turn around.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Are you that happy you won?" Misty asked grinning.  
  
"Heh. . . yeah." Ash replied and looked down at his shoes.  
  
"Are you okey?" she asked softly.  
  
"I guess." He said and shrugged.  
  
"Are you sure?" Misty asked and looked at him. How could he be feeling if he had changed so sudden?  
  
"Yeah, of course I'm fine, I just won the first battle, six more to go and I'm in the finals." He said smiling.  
  
"Hey!" they heard someone yell. They turned around and saw Tracey come out from the stadium and run towards them.  
  
"Hey, Trace'." Ash greeted.  
  
"Hi! I thought you've gone through that entrance." Tracey gasped as he pointed to one of the entrances, "And where did you go?" Tracey asked Misty.  
  
"I went after Ash." She said.  
  
"I know that, but which way did you take?" Tracey asked.  
  
"That's one of the good parts of being a gym leader, officer Jenny let me pass through the same entrance Ash went through, without having to go around the whole stadium." Misty said smiling.  
  
"Oh. . . we should go somewhere to celebrate your first victory, Ash." Tracey suggested. Ash didn't feel like celebrate anything, he just wanted to be alone but since they were so happy for him,  
  
"Sure we'll celebrate!" he said, "Just as long we don't go to that mushroom restaurant." He added remembering the embarrasing event in that particular restaurant.  
  
"Huh?" Tracey said, not understanding what Ash meant.  
  
"Like we were allowed back in there after what you did." Misty said with a laugh.  
  
"I don't think the staff took it that hard." Ash said.  
  
"No?. . . Ash you started a chain of disaster in that restaurant." Misty teased.  
  
". . . it looked pretty funny when you think about it." Ash said thoughtfully.  
  
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed, giggling.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Tracey asked.  
  
"D'you remember when I told you about when me and Ash went out to eat? Well, we went to a very nice restaurant, everything was good until Ash tripped on his way out and turned the restaurant upsidedown." Misty explained.  
  
"Aha." Tracey remembered both what she had told him and how he brutally had been awaken from his sleep to hear that story. They started to walk towards the city, talking about other embarrasing moments Ash had put them through..  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
For about the hundreth time, Delia looked out of the window, hoping that her son would come back. But just like the other 99 other times, no one appeared. She sighed sadly. Samuel looked worriedly at her. He had suggested that they could go back to Pallet town and wait until the tournament was over to talk to Ash, but she refused, she wanted to solve it now and if they would wait 'til after the tournament, Ash could start to travel elsewhere and then she might never hear from him again.  
  
Neither Brock or May minded that they stayed in the cottage. May seemed to be more worried than Delia at times, she had been worried ever since Ash disappeared from the cottage and his sudden change wasn't something that calmed her down.  
  
Delia's reaction at Ash's new look must've been mixed with her pregnacy mood swings, since her exact words were, "What the hell has he done?!". She actually cursed. Her reaction was quite surprising for Brock and May, but Samuel seemed to be somewhat used to it.  
  
Samuel got up from where he had been seated and said,  
  
"I'll go out to search for Ash, Delia."  
  
"Sam, no! He's very upset and he has a horrible temperament." Delia said, trying to convice Samuel not to go out.  
  
"Doesn't matter. We've got to solve this once and for all. I'll be back as soon as possible." Samuel said, gave her a kiss on her cheek, reached for his coat and went out from the cottage.  
  
"Be careful." She whispered and sat own on a couch as May entered the living room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The night sky was glimmering with all the stars, it wasn't a cold nor a warm night, it was like a typical autumn night up north.  
  
Ash, Misty and Tracey were walking down a road after their little celebration. Ash wanted fast food and since he was the one who had won the battle they should go to a fast food restaurant but Misty wanted to eat something more classy so Tracey suggested that they could eat chinese food. It was on one side fast food and it was somewhat classy. Ash and Misty liked the solution and Pikachu didn't care, as long as she got ketchup, she was satisfied.  
  
So they had eaten chinese food and they were heading to the Pokémon Center when all of a sudden they heard someone behind them.  
  
"Ash! Wait!"  
  
All three turned around and to their big surprise it was prof. Oak. Ash's face got a serious expression. Misty felt that Ash's fist got clenched down his side. She gave Tracey a meaning look, Tracey nodded slowly as the professor aproached.  
  
"Ash, we need to talk." He said. Ash felt how his blood started to rush fastly through his body and how it started to boil in his veins. Who did he think he was? He couldn't order him around! He was nothing to him!  
  
"You're nothing to me!" he said with hate in his voice.  
  
"Ash, don't.." Misty said softly to him, knowing that he would regret all the things he was about to yell to the professor.  
  
"What, doesn't my mom have the courage to face me that she had to send you?"  
  
"Don't talk about your mother like that!" Samuel said. Ash was just about to raise his fist to give the professor a right hook when Tracey and Misty pulled Ash back, Pikachu had jumped down to the ground when Ash had his first little outburst.  
  
"Professor, please leave." Tracey said.  
  
"Let me go!" Ash complained. The professor looked at the struggling teens for a few seconds and decided that it was better to leave, which he also did.  
  
Ash sighed in anger and in frustration as he saw prof. Oak disappear into the dark. Tracey and Misty let go of him. He turned around and started to walk to the opposite direction, both Misty and Tracey were about to follow him when he said,  
  
"Let me be alone."  
  
He continued walking with Pikachu right behind him and her ears were dropped to her sides. They knew that he needed to be alone now, that could help him understand the situation, or maybe not.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Uh-oh. . . .  
  
. . . .  
  
He seemed to be kinda angry *o* . . . hehe, silly comment. Anyway, Ash's first battle scene was written a couple of days before the episode when Charizard came back in Johto and before he left again. I was going to change that since Ash used Charizard at the Indigo and Johto tournament too, but since I'm lazy, I didn't have enough energy to bother.  
  
I just wanted to clear that out . ^^  
  
Oh, and I wasn't thinking of the word "pissed" as a cuss-word in the third chapter. . . sorry if that shocked you, yammitammy =)  
  
Ciao!! 


	5. Chapter 5

Hellu!  
  
Sorry for the long wait but I have had the worst of writer's block and it's still hanging there. But now I'm done with the fifth chapter, go ahead and read =)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Pikachu was so worried now that she could feel the cry in her throat. Ash hadn't said anything for what seemed nearly an hour.  
  
She was still walking behind him and she could see how he was shaking of anger. Pikachu had never seen Ash this way before. The worst part was that she knew that she couldn't do anything to cheer him up, she doubted that she even dared to try. What was weird, though, was that it did seem as if Ash was trying to keep that anger inside him instead of trying to get rid of it.  
  
Ash stopped walking and so did Pikachu, standing a meter or so behind him. His fists that had been clenched down his sides since that major outburst a while ago, were slowly unclenched and Pikachu could hear Ash sigh deeply. He turned around to face Pikachu. He had a sad smile on his face as he sat down on his knees.  
  
"I'm sorry, Pikachu." He said.  
  
Pikachu walked hesitantly towards him and she could see that he was slightly hurt to see that his Pokémon was afraid of him. She jumped down on her front paws and ran up to Ash's embrace.  
  
"I'm really sorry, Pikachu. I won't scare you like that again." He said softly.  
  
"Chuu," Pikachu purred happily.  
  
Ash got up as he put Pikachu on his shoulder.  
  
"Pikapi, chu pi pikapika kachu pikachupi?( Ash, are we going back to Tracey and Misty?)" Pikachu asked, frowning when Ash shook his head no.  
  
"Pika? (Why not?)"  
  
"I don't wanna see them now, Pikachu." He replied quietly.  
  
"Pika chu ka pi? (You're not mad at them, right?)"  
  
Ash kept on looking down at the road and didn't answer Pikachu's question.  
  
"Pikapi?" Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder and stood infront of him.  
  
"I don't know, okey?! I just. . .c'mon, she comes back and apparently they've been to Valencia Island for two weeks and for no good reason! They live together, they came here together. . . all of a sudden they're inseparable!"  
  
"(Are you jealous, Pikapi?)" Pikachu asked slowly.  
  
"What? - no. . . I don't know. I don't know anything anymore, Pikachu. I'm confused, it's like. . " he thought for something to compare it with, "No, wait, that's not a good comparasion. . . it's like - d'you remember that time when that professor on Seafoam Island was trying to figure out why Slowpoke and Shellder evolved together?" Ash asked.  
  
Pikachu nodded, smiling slightly at the thought of her Pikapi trying to explain something and comparing it with a Slowpoke.  
  
"I'm feeling just as that professor surely did, I know what's happening but I don't know why. It's like I'm surrounded by evolving Slowpoke's but I'm not able to see the connection between the Slowpoke and the Shellder." Ash said frustrated as he leaned tiredly on a tree.  
  
". . .and my mom, she just. . ." he trailed off as he slided down to the ground, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat.  
  
Pikachu jumped up on his lap and looked up at him with her amber eyes. "(It'll be okey, Pikapi.)" she said assuringly.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Do you think he'll be okey?" Misty asked as she and Tracey walked back to the Pokémon Center.  
  
"Yeah, he'll be okey. He just needs time to understand." Tracey said.  
  
"I've never seen him like that before. I mean, I know that he can have an awful temper but that. . . he was actually going to hit the professor." Misty said, shooking her head in disbelief.  
  
They walked in silince for a while. Tracey kept his eyes focused on the road they were walking on, his thoughts taking him to a far away fantasy land.  
  
"Tracey! Am I that boring?" Misty asked, stopping and crossing her arms. Tracey stopped as well and looked questioningly at her.  
  
"I'm worried about Ash, can't we go and see where he went?" Misty asked.  
  
"Misty, Ash will be okey. He's strong and all he needs and wants now is to be alone. He needs to sort out all this confusement he must feel by himself." Tracey said.  
  
Misty sighed and stood still for a moment, "I know that he should be "sorting out" all those thoughts but you saw yourself. He has changed, and not to the better. He has the same huge ego he had when he first started out his journey, he's become aggressive again. Ash is not using this alone time to think, he's using it to feel sorry for himself and the reason he told us not to follow him was surely because he knows that I won't let him go around and do that." Misty said frustrated.  
  
"You're probably right. Let's go." Tracey said as they started to walk rapidly back to where they had seen Ash go.  
  
Tracey smiled, he didn't understand why he even tried to convince Misty not to do things when she had already made up her mind.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"(Pikapi, where are we going?)" Pikachu asked as she looked around, seeing small cottages surround them.  
  
"Um, I dunno. I think this is some of the cottages the trainers live in, but it's not near our cottage." Ash said, looking around as well.  
  
A group of guys caught Ash's and Pikachu's attention as they loudly entered the cottage area, drving big, black, MC's. Two of them didn't seem sobber enough to sit up on the backseat while the rest of them were practically yelling to be heard by the others. They passed by Ash and Pikachu but one of the rather sobber in the group stopped as he saw Ash.  
  
"Heey! Seems like we a bro here, guys." He said as he turned towards Ash, meaning Ash's new outfit. Another guy walked up to Ash and put up his hand.  
  
"Hey, s'up, bro? Me 'n my gang hasn't seen you around this place before." He said as Ash shook his hand.  
  
"Um, this is the first time I've been here." Ash said.  
  
"Judging by your clothes, y'seem to be one of us." One of the drunken one's said as he swayed infront of Ash, making him wrinkle his nose at the smell of alcohol that came out of the mans mouth.  
  
"No, he's not." Said the other drunken one, "I've seen this dude before. He's just a wannabe. I saw him in the Johto League Tournament." He added.  
  
"Man, are you trying to play us?!" said the first man angerly.  
  
"I haven't said anything. You're the one who stopped to talk to me." Ash said tiredly.  
  
"Is he giving us attitude? Are you giving us attitude?" said another man. Pikachu's cheeks started to sparkle as one of the drunken men came closer.  
  
"That does it. A battle right here and right now." Said the first man and took out a pokéball from his pocket. Ash raised his eyebrows in surprise, what kind of weird people was this?  
  
"Sure, anytime." Ash said, still surprised.  
  
"Man, I'm gonna beat you so bad your ancestors will turn in their graves."  
  
Ash didn't reply, he just let Pikachu run down his arm and jump down onto the ground, "Show me what you got." Ash said, waititng for the guy to release his Pokémon.  
  
"Torkoal, go!" The Pokémon appeared in a cloud of smoke that it created.  
  
"Pikachu, use your agility." Ash said as Pikachu sped off.  
  
"What a joke. . . Torkoal, flame wheel." The man ordered.  
  
"Double Team."  
  
Pikachu was running so fast that it seemed like various Pikachus were surrounding Torkoal, making the fire-Pokémon very confused.  
  
"Finish it of with a Thunder attack, Pikachu" Ash said easily. An electricity barrier started to form around Pikachu as it sparkled from her cheeks. She sent off at least ten thousand volts through her body, onto the Torkoal that was paralyzed and unable to move.  
  
"I think you're beaten, Ben." Said a man that stood behind the defeated one. The man called Ben looked over his shoulder and just shook his head, "I think I know."  
  
" 'ey, what's your secret?"  
  
"Quick tacticts and good training." Ash said confidently.  
  
"That's great man, be careful if you're gonna walk around here at this time of day. There's alot of bro's that are a bit more dangerous than we are." Said Ben as he and the other guys jumped back up on their MC's and drove off.  
  
Ash nodded slowly as he saw them disappear around a corner.  
  
"That was weird, Pikachu."  
  
"(That's an understatement, Pikapi.)" Pikachu said as she ran up to Ash's left shoulder. Before deciding where to go, Ash looked around again and suddenly started to recognize the place as he saw the light come from the main stadium not so far away from there. He began to walk towards the cottages that were on their left side.  
  
After a moments walk they were standing infront of the cottage they should be in, infront of the same cottage his mom was probably in.  
  
"(Pikapi, what are we doing here?)" Pikachu asked softly as she saw how stern and cold Ash's face had turned.  
  
Ash was about to reply when the front door was opened and Ash hidd behind big bushes that stuck out of the little garden that surrounded the cottage.  
  
"Is it really a good idea for you to go out at this time of day?" Ash heard Brock say as Delia went carefully down the steps.  
  
"Brock, I'm just going to look at the lovely flowers that are growing at the backyard." Delia responded kindly, "Come with me. I assure you that Sam is a wonderful cook and there's no reason to worry."  
  
Brock sighed as he walked down the steps as well and gave a last look into the cottage. They disappeared behind the cottage and Ash exhaled loudly.  
  
Ash and Pikachu walked into a little wood that was located right by the cottage. They walked in silince until they almost got burned by a flamethrower.  
  
"Who's there?" A girl asked.  
  
Ash identified the voice and sighed in relief, "It's me, May." He said calmly, walking out of the tiny wood and into the glade May was standing in.  
  
He was surprised by a hug and so was Pikachu as she practically flew of Ash's shoulder and landed on the ground.  
  
"Where have you been? I've been so worried!" May said as she let go of him. Ash was going to reply but May continued,  
  
"And why didn't you wait for us after your battle?"  
  
"I dunno, I met up with Tracey and Misty. . . " he began but stopped when he saw May frown and look sadly at him, saying "oh" as fast as she heard him mention Misty's name.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing." May said shooking her head. Ash didn't feel as to dig much deeper in this matter so he changed the subject.  
  
"What are you doing out here this late?" he asked.  
  
"I ask the same to you. Or is this a part of your new style?"  
  
Ash looked down at himself, everything he was wearing was black and somehow gave an illusion of superiority as if he tried to intimidate whoever dared to go against him. His new style. . . it kind of went against to most of the things he'd learned, it went against to most of the things his mother had taught him.  
  
Instead of being an equal he tried to be a superior, instead of just using the knowledge he had in Pokémon training he had to brag about it. There were so many things he wanted to do and even though he denied it to himself, he knew deep down inside that he was doing this to show those who surrounded him, that he didn't really need them, that he could make it on his own. Or could he?  
  
Ash's silence made May realize that she had hit a soft spot.  
  
"I'm sorry, Ash. It's just that. . . this just doesn't seem to be you." May said.  
  
He couldn't explain why, but he suddenly felt that her comment made him angry. There was a big part of him that told him that he was seriously getting ridiculous if that made him mad. But there was also a part that told him that he had every right to get mad, why should he let people tell him what to do? Why should they tell him who he was or who he should be? There were so many questions that were showing up now, questions he thought he would never have the need to answer, because he thought he knew who he was, he thought that people told him what to do because they wanted what was best for him.  
  
Ash turned around and began to walk back into the woods while letting Pikachu run up his shoulder.  
  
"Where are you going?" May asked, wondering what had made him so strange so sudden.  
  
"I don't know. Probably somewhere I can train alone." He said, before disappearing into the woods and leaving May with her Torchic.  
  
:::::*****::::::  
  
While walking away from the cottage he collected all his thoughts and opinions and took a decision. He was going to win this tournament, but he was going to win it with the help of his Pokémon and his knowledge.  
  
Letting others help would only lead to distraction and confusement, making it hard for him to reach his goal and become the Pokémon Master he wanted to be. Closing the doors into his world would make it harder for people around him to hurt him and the more he thought about it, the better it sounded and the more convinced he got that this was the right decision.  
  
::::******::::::  
  
Well, as you've probably read, this chapter is mainly about why Ash decided to change so sudden and has maybe given you some idea of what consequences this might have.  
  
I hope that it won't take sucha long time for me to get the next chapter done.  
  
Don't forget to review!  
  
//////  
  
Nikki 


	6. Chapter 6

Ouf...

Well, people – this is the sixth chapter for "Deberias Haberme Contado" and I'm kinda back on track after a long "break".

As for "What Magic Can Do To You" – next chapter is still under construction...I have like seven different versions that I'm not so happy about so I'm working on an eight version ('õ)...and so far so good.

With some luck, it'll be up soon and sorry for the long wait...

"_The disappearing of many trainers' Pokémon have continued and the police has not even suspects. This strange phenomenon began for three days ago and reports of new cases keep on streaming in._

_The statements the police have made so far is that "it's possible this could be amateur thieves that saw this chance in the middle of the Hoenn League Tournament chaos"..."_

Misty sat curled up on the couch and saw Tracey throw himself down onto an armchair.

He sighed deeply before reaching out a coke can to Misty, who gladly received it.

"You heard about the disappearing Pokémon?" asked Misty as she opened the can, rapidly taking it in direction of her mouth to lick up the coke that had trickled down the side of the can.

"Yeah, I was just in the kitchen, y'know. I could hear the TV." Tracey replied somewhat thoughtfully as he tried to open his can.

"Do you want me to open it for you?" Misty asked smiling.

"Yes, please." Replied Tracey and gave Misty the can instantly, "It's weird that officer Jenny hasn't found the thieves yet. She's usually very effective."

"Maybe they're good at what they do too." Misty said, not looking up from the can, which seemed to refuse to get open.

"You think it could be Team Rocket?"

"Jesse and James? Naa, they've been pretty quiet this tournament, too quiet. I kind a miss 'em. I haven't seen them in a while." Misty let the can sink down into her hands as she sighed deeply.

"I haven't seen them either. But Butch and Cassidy have visited prof. Oak's lab regularly during these years." Tracey grinned at the sight of Misty trying to open the can and before she had time to react, he had snatched it back. He took a paper clip that had laid on the table in front of him and used it to get the can open.

"Why didn't you do that from the beginning??"

"I dunno."

Misty turned her attention to the TV-screen as the latest battles were shown and the trainers who had made it to the next battles.

As the energetic man announced that the first part of the tournament would soon be over (two battles left before semi-finals), Misty came to think of Mrs. Ketchum.

"Um, Tracey?"

"Yep?"

"You think that Mrs. Ketchum will keep going to the battles if Ash keeps pushing her away? I mean, shouldn't we do something so that – I dunno – she doesn't feel so abandoned?"

Tracey sighed deeply and looked tiredly at Misty, "Listen, there's nothing we can do. This is something that they have to solve themselves. Sure, we can keep her company and do our best to cherish her up but the fact that Ash doesn't even want to see her in picture is something that will always hurt her."

Misty lowered her head and let her untied hair fall down over her shoulders and hide her face. Her hands were turned into fists and she fell into silence.

Tracey got obviously surprised at the reaction and found himself empty on words and just as some words came back to him, Misty spoke,

"I can't believe that he can be so stupid."

Her words reflected anger and frustration and when she decided to look up again, Tracey could see that she had tears in her eyes, which only confused him more.

"Can't he see what he's giving up?" Her voice was shaky but she continued, "And for what? His stupid ego! I mean, can't he at least _try_ to understand why she couldn't tell him?! I would. At least I would be happy she cared enough to bother."

A sob forced her to stop speaking; she looked away to hide the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, tears that represented years of oppressed sadness.

Tracey got up from the armchair and sat in front of Misty, looking compassionate at her. Misty refused to look him in the eye and kept her glare onto the sleeve of his shirt.

The fact that Ash was denying a mother she wished she could've had was a stupidity she could not understand at all.

The few times she had had the chance to see how strong the bonds were between Ash and his mother, she had almost envied what they had and those times she became so angry with her own mother.

How many times hadn't she found herself cursing the one person she wished had been there when she needed her?

Tracey wrapped his arms around her, giving her a comforting hug. A sad expression spread over his face when he felt how Misty sobbed quietly while resting her head on his shoulder.

He didn't like to see her sad, especially when he didn't have a clue of what was upsetting her to the point of crying.

The sound of the blaring TV-screen overpowered Misty's sobbing as the latest rapports of the kidnapped Pokémon were shown once again.

"Where were you, May?" asked Brock as May walked into the tiny kitchen.

May looked up at him with a tired smile and sighed deeply before replying, "I was taking a walk."

"You okay?"

"I can't complain...um, what's for dinner?" asked May with a fake smile on her face.

Brock picked up the bowl in front of him and showed it to May, "I think that Mrs. Ketchum's baby will be a vegetarian. All she wanted was a salad, so I haven't made anything else. It's that okay with you?"

May nodded, "Yeah, it's okay. I'm not that hungry anyway."

She watched Brock go out of the kitchen with the bowl in his hands and soon he disappeared into the living room.

Why did things have to be like this? Why did Ash have to change?

A gut feeling grew inside her stomach, making her feel as if she was about to throw up.

It didn't matter where she went; the feeling of Ash's absence followed her everywhere.

For many years had the fear of being left by someone she held close, lived in her.

But somehow this feeling was stronger than her usual fear. May did not dare to think that she could be having a crush or anything of the likes on him.

It couldn't be, could it?

That would be just typical to have a crush on someone she knew had another love-interest.

Without thinking of where she was going, May ran out of the cottage the same way she had entered.

All she knew was that she had to find Ash.

Yet another night's walking through the Ever Grande City was passing by.

The dark blue night-sky was as starry as ever and the moon was slowly making her known as the dark clouds slowly vanished.

Pikachu looked at Ash from where she was seated on his shoulder.

"(Pikapi, how long will you keep this up?)"

"Keep what up, Pikachu?"

"(All of this. The depressing walks at night, the isolation from all of our friends, the pity for yourself.)"

"'Til I feel like it." murmured Ash, pouting.

Pikachu rolled her eyes and let a silent sigh escape her.

A sudden shot-like sound made Ash and Pikachu turn around to their left, leaving them facing a great, white lighthouse.

It came from inside that building.

"A lighthouse? At a mountain?"

"(Does it matter, Pikapi?! Someone might be hurt!)"

Ash didn't argue and began to look after a way to get to the lighthouse since it stood on an elevation and had high fences around its entire plot.

"(There's a way up!)", said Pikachu and pointed at a road that led up to the lighthouse.

Ash didn't hesitate and ran up the whole road to its end, which unfortunately was a closed entrance.

There was some kind of device going from the door into the lighthouse and Ash looked at it for a while before sticking his hand to the other side of the door and slowly taking the device off.

"Pikachu, push the door open – carefully!"

Pikachu did as she was told; she jumped down from Ash's shoulder and began to slowly push the door open.

Ash took the device in his other hand, putting the device onto the ground and walked into the territory surrounding the lighthouse.

"(What's that, Pikapi?)"

"Dunno, but it's always better to be safe, right?"

Another shot was heard, this time there was nothing that could stop Ash and Pikachu on their way into the lighthouse.

The door into the lighthouse was nothing out of the ordinary and was easily opened by Ash with a light push.

Pikachu ran up to Ash's shoulder and got a hold of Ash's jacket collar.

The room they had entered was huge and the only thing there was to see was a long staircase that led to the next floor.

Ash began to walk up the stairs but was stopped in his tracks when the sound of shooting began again, right behind him.

"Who's there?" asked Ash out into the emptiness.

"I would like to know that as well." Replied someone with a dark voice that echoed through the room.

Four figures appeared in the entrance, it was hard to distinguish the figures as the door was closed behind them and the place turned dark once again.

"I'm Ash Ketchum."

"Ah, I have heard a lot about you, Mr. Ketchum. I believe you have interfered in many of our operations."

The echoing voice finally got a face as a man walked into sight from the side of the room.

Ash identified him as someone dealing with Team Aqua as his uniform pretty much gave him away.

"Here to repeat history, are you?"

"No, I'm here to see what all the shooting was about." Ash replied calmly as the executive came closer.

"Oh, but you see, that is not any of your business, Mr. Ketchum." Said the executive amused.

"I've already made it my business." Said Ash, letting a bit of his calmness go.

"Do you know what I hate except for the ideals of Team Magma?" The executive did not let Ash answer and kept on talking, "Nosy kids who don't respect the privacy of others."

There was a short silence when Ash didn't reply to what the executive had said. It was broken by a soft laugh from the executive and with an evil grin he continued; "You know, there are not many nosy people who have lived long enough to tell any government federation what we are up to. All they have are speculations."

He turned his head enough to see Ash in the corner of his eye. Ash had eyes flaming with anger and his hands were slowly clenched into fists, but he stood still and straight.

"Was that a threat?"

"You may take it as you want, Mr. Ketchum. Now, let's stop chatting and get this over with. When I have beaten your Pokémon, you will be the next one falling. It's such a shame that a trainer like you had to end like this. Killed for not minding his own business."

"You still haven't told me what the shooting was about."

"Oh, but I don't want to weigh your adolescent mind with such awful things, Mr. Ketchum. There are certain limits for my cruelty." He said, laughing softly at his spoken sentence.

The executive's exaggerated courtesy when speaking was driving Ash out of his mind and his temper was shorter than it had ever been, making him an object very easy to annoy.

"But if you must know, I guess there will be no harm done if I tell you considering the events in this very near future. Those shooting sounds you hear come from the cells where we have locked our latest kidnap victims. That's all the Pokémon we have taken from trainers who have dared to defy us and now they are trying to go back to their beloved masters." The last sentence was filled with despise and disgust. The executive shook his head and snorted, "Now, we are showing them who we are. The only respect human know is fear. We have brain-washed these creatures in order to turn them against their trainers and later we will form an army of angry Pokémon, obeying us only."

Ash managed to relax. He looked down to the floor quickly as a grin spread over his face. Ash shook his head as he looked up again, "Seems like every leader of these freaky organisations I meet, have the same dreams. And you, like every other leader, will fail."

"You seem confidant, Mr. Ketchum. Are you familiar with bottled up anger?"

"All to well."

"In that case you should have an image of how mad that can make a human. Imagine then what a mad creature with natural powers can do." The executive took out a Pokéball and looked at it rapidly before letting the berry sized object roll around in his hand.

As Ash was about to choose his Pokémon, a giant TV-screen was switched on and showed how a very familiar person was trying to make her way by the fence.

Ash's eyes grew wide of shock and he had to back away a few steps to get a good view and assure himself that he was seeing right.

"Suddenly things got very interesting, didn't they?" the executive evilly, "You don't happen to have seen a black little device on your way in, did you?"

Ash looked at the executive in fear, the executive laughed, "If I'm not mistaken, this girl is someone to you. It would be such a pity if she happened to pass by the device and be blown up in the air just like that."

"You wouldn't." Ash managed to say.

"Oh, yes, I would. You, Mr. Ketchum, are the trainer who has interfered with our plans the most. Somehow you have managed to stop every other operation we have started, you've managed to send one of my best teammates into prison. You will pay and judging by your character, this is the best way to make you pay all your debts."

"_Ash?"_ May's voice was heard from outside shortly followed by the fence-door's creaking as it was being closed...

Well, as you can see, this chapter is mostly focused on – um, a situation where I have to bring the characters closer to each other.

Misty is starting to open up to Tracey and Tracey is maybe starting to fall _inlove_?

May is trying to find out what exactly she is feeling for Ash and now she might be in trouble – uh oh...

I better start with the next chapter pronto

Buh-bye for now...oh, and I'm still sorry for the long wait....)


End file.
